Devil's Tongue
by FlowerPetalsToTheWind
Summary: 5 murders leave police clueless and reluctantly asking Torchwood for help. But are the Team in over their heads as well? And what is Tosh's secret that could turn fatal? Full summary inside. Rated K for language. Please R
1. Coffee

**Just so you understand the story, there had been 5 cases of murder of young males dotted around Cardiff. The Police couldn't understand the Modus Operandi ( as there doesn't seem to be one) and so have reluctantly handed the case over to Torchwood to investigate, the only lead being that all the murders have happened in a half mile radius of a nightclub.**

**Thought I would spare you having to read a whole chapter on it as, well lets face it, it's pretty boring. But you're up to date. So now read on and enjoy.**

**And please Review, thank you!**

**FlowerPetalsToTheWind (does not own Torchwood)**

"Coffee?" Ianto entered the hub's Boardroom and offered his expert coffee to everyone. The atmosphere was tense, Ianto soon regretted coming in as everyone looked like the last thing they wanted was coffee. This, in his experience, was always a bad thing. He decided just to leave the steaming mugs on the table before shuffling out.

Toshiko looked around at all the grim faces, as everyone stared at the new report on another mysterious male death near a Cardiff nightclub.

"What I don't get is there is no cause of death." Jack suddenly piped up. Everyone looked up at him, so he continued his trail of thought, "I mean, not even you, Owen, could find anything wrong with them. I don't even know why we have to look into this; I mean how could it be alien if there wasn't any Rift activity?"

"There might have been something." Tosh mumbled quietly.

"Sorry Tosh, I thought I just heard you there might have been rift activity." Jack said, genuinely puzzled.

"You-you did." Tosh whispered.

"Poison!" Gwen almost shouted, like a Eureka moment, blocking out Tosh's confession.

"Untraceable. Colourless, odourless, tasteless maybe, but still poison." She explained to a stunned team.

"I don't know, Gwen, I think I would have picked it up…" Owen started but Jack cut in,

"Poison! Of course, that was stupid of us, well of you, why didn't we think about it before?" Jack sat back in his chair.

"Because I did think of poison but I did countless tests and there is no possible way that they were poisoned." Owen said, through gritted teeth.

"Owen's right Jack, I also did research on poisons and all are traceable with the technology Torchwood has." Toshiko stated.

"Yes, all human poisons. Did you look at all alien poisons, Tosh?" Gwen asked, excitement building up at this possible breakthrough.

"Yes, all known alien poisons are logged in our database. I checked alien poison before I did anything. The poison data logger is something I added so if anything like this came up I wouldn't have to take time on researching extra-terrestrial possibilities, we would just know. Any poison that has not been produced on Earth but has been recorded is on our system, even those that were illegally recorded, even by foreign countries, I have them all Jack." Tosh sounded exasperated. Jack just looked at her as if she'd slapped him in the face. He silently got up to leave the room,

"This meeting's over." He said before retreating to his own office.

The rest of the team sat in the boardroom stunned. Tosh was almost relieved that everyone had forgotten her little confession. Though she knew she would have to admit her mistake sooner or later. She chose later and sunk deeper into her chair almost like she was trying to hide from the rest of her colleagues.

Gwen was still pondering over her poison theory. She was quite huffy with Owen and Toshiko for stamping on her idea quite so determinedly. _It's a possibility. Torchwood doesn't have _every_ poison in the entire universe logged on Tosh's silly logger thingy. If it's poison, it might be something we haven't come across yet,_ Gwen thought to herself.

Owen was sitting with his arms folded going over absurd possibilities about the men's deaths. Then when he could come up with nothing particularly plausible he thought about how much money was in his wallet and whether he should go to the pub or go for the cheaper option of buying a few cans and get drunk at home that night. After different thoughts, the Torchwood team's feelings all fell upon thinking about Jack.

The team had never seen Jack get so worked up over a case before. Maybe it was the fact they had no leads, maybe it was because five men had died for no apparent reason, or maybe it was something more personal. These thoughts were going through everyone's heads as they sat there again looking at the new report on the projector.

Ianto suddenly appeared with fresh coffee. Seeing no-one had even touched the first lot, he subtly came in and quietly cleared away all the refreshments he had previously left on the table, as well as the second mugs of coffee he had just brought in. On his way back to his own desk Jack called him.

"Ianto, I'd like a bit of that fresh coffee, if you don't mind." He asked, in his American accent Ianto loved so much. He gave Ianto a wink before settling himself in his office.

Jack sat there quietly for a few moments with the case files spread out in front of him. Five faces stared back at him. Not giving any clue as to who their killer might be. There wasn't even a mark on their bodies for Pete's sake! If there wasn't the small fact they were dead, their bodies gave no indication of any health problems or injuries. Internal or external. Nothing showed anything.

Jack pushed the files away, before his head exploded. He was frustrated. He always hated it when he couldn't understand something. He enjoyed a challenge, but this wasn't fun anymore. People were getting hurt. Killed. And Jack couldn't work out how to stop it. It was like he wasn't doing his job properly or something.

A knock on his door pulled him out of his deep train of thought. Ianto entered with Jack's industrial strength coffee in hand. He smiled at Jack who looked very absent at that moment. Jack smile back but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. Ianto noticed but didn't say anything. He decided to carry on working and left the Captain in his office, knowing Jack probably didn't want to talk about it yet.

Jack roped the scattered files back to the centre of his desk to continue raking through them, hoping something would turn up magically in front of his eyes. He sipped his coffee. Still the best he'd ever tasted.


	2. She's The Lady

As part of the investigation, the team decided to go into various night clubs in Cardiff to see if they could find anything suspicious. Apart from Tosh who decided to stay at the Hub and watch their progress, the whole team climbed into the Torchwood SUV and using Tosh's own custom-made Satellite Navigation system they headed for the nearest club. When they arrived they found there was already a long string of people queuing to get in. "We should have come with VIP tickets or something." Owen laughed, checking the lengthy line. "We're not going to see much action in there anytime in the next hour." But Jack was already on it, flicking his mobile out he speed dialled Toshiko.

"Tosh? There seems to be a queue we weren't really planning on finding. Can you get us in ASAP? VIP maybe?"

"Done" Tosh's voice crackled back in the phone, "And no tickets needed."

"You've got to admit, she is good." Gwen elbowed Owen. Owen shrugged off Gwen's statement. Gwen had noticed Owen seemed to be purposefully ignoring Toshiko if he could help it. Gwen took this as denial for fancying Tosh.

"Now, you need to go to the back door and say you booked in VIP under the name Cooper. Hope you don't mind I used your name Gwen?" Tosh explained.

"No problem." Gwen shrugged.

They all filed to the back door where a burly looking bouncer stood. Jack gave a dazzling smile and announced, "Cooper." The bouncer glanced at a laptop holding the VIP data and nodded them through, holding out a pass for each of them. They stepped past him and entered the coat room, the club music still a dull thud through the thick walls. Jack didn't stop to hand over his never-left-behind great coat but strode straight through the doors to a blast of thumping and energetic music.

Once they were in, the team decided to look around. Gwen went off to find if there was a "gig" or club performance on that night, trying to find a connection of some sort between it and other clubs. Jack went to the bar to have a look at everyone who was actually in the club. Owen decided to just follow Gwen. She found "The Lady" was coming in to do a bit of "dancing" at 10:00pm; she headed to the bar to tell Jack.

Jack meanwhile was finding it strange being in the background. He was so used to barging in, flashing ID and taking over it was hard to sit back on the bar stool and just be subtle and watch. While he was looking at everyone on the dance floor he noticed Gwen striding towards him. He sat up, seeing she had a serious look on her face. "Now that's not a party face." Jack spoke up so Gwen could hear above the music.

"I just found a poster about a performer coming in tonight. I haven't heard of her before." Gwen explained.

"We'll get Tosh to check her history." He replied simply. "When is she on?"

"Ten." Gwen informed him, not liking the fact he didn't seem too interested in this possible suspect.

Jack still seemed to be looking around at everyone dancing. Gwen studied him as he sat there, seemingly deep in thought. Owen suddenly broke through the dancers and came up to them. "Where's Ianto?" he said as he came close enough to be heard. For the first time since they came in Jack and Gwen suddenly remembered that they hadn't seen Ianto since. They all looked at each other perplexed, _where had Ianto gone?_ Unexpectedly he came out of a private room where only staff was allowed.

"Ianto, I don't know whether you need glasses but the toilets are the other way." Jack laughed when Ianto stood there in front of them.

"I know, but I wasn't looking for the toilets." He gave a cheeky smile and continued, "I found what I was looking for." He stood there still smiling as if he was waiting to be asked what he'd found. Gwen, Owen and Jack all chorused, "What?" Ianto stood there still smiling then quickly opened one side of his coat to reveal a small collection of video tapes.

"I have the basic knowledge to know that the people that own this club own two of the clubs that a couple of the men were found at. So luckily I found that they had CCTV tapes from those clubs here as well as the tapes for this club."

"You clever tea-boy, Ianto!" Jack kissed Ianto on the forehead then shuffled the team out of the club. Ianto thought to grab the jackets and Jack's greatcoat as everyone else seemed to have forgotten them. They all piled into the SUV again and headed for the Hub.

When they arrived they found Toshiko working on the performer The Lady, to no avail. The Lady had no background. _Damn, I forgot about her. _Gwen thought to herself. Everyone huddled round while Tosh downloaded the CCTV footage.

After watching the last tape, the team found that they had come up with nothing unusual. "Great, so we're stuck. Again." Jack grumbled exasperated. Gwen however had noticed a link she had suspected all along.

"The Lady, Jack, she performed at all the clubs on the tapes. She's the missing link. Do you think she's been committing the murders?" she said excitedly.

"Gwen, think logically. How could a lap dancing woman be the criminal mastermind behind untraceable murders?" Owen butted in. Tosh and Gwen gave him evils. Trust Owen to be sexist over this. "What?" he asked genuinely perplexed.

"Owen's right. If this woman had the brains of a criminal mastermind, I think she would be doing better than dancing in clubs. It's not being sexist ladies." Jack charmingly smiled at Tosh and Gwen when their evils turned deadly. "It just makes sense." He refined.

"What if she's doing it undercover? It's probably not even her real profession. She's just doing it to get close to the victims or something." Gwen tried to argue. Jack raised an attractive eyebrow and butterflies swooped in Gwen's stomach.

"Fine. If you really want to prove something here, we'll go to her next 'performance'. I just want this nonsense cleared up so we can carry on finding the real suspected alien killer." Jack concluded and left to dwell in his office.


	3. Hypnotised

It had been decided that Jack and Ianto would go to the club, to Owen's dismay. "But why?" Owen had whined earlier.

"Because you'd forget what we're supposed to be doing and probably just get drunk and dance with girls apart from the actual dancer!" Jack settled the argument.

Jack and Ianto entered the club to the thumping music. Jack dumped his greatcoat with the coat tender this time and slid onto the dance floor. Ianto on the other hand, gave the coat tender his jacket a bit more graciously and timidly followed Jack onto the dance floor with an uncertain shuffle. The captain grabbed the tea boy around the waist and got him to relax a bit more while they bounced energetically to the pounding music. Ianto was still a little unsure of himself. "You don't get out much, do you?" Jack laughed over the music. Ianto smiled sheepishly as they went to sit down once the song changed.

Jack then went to get drinks. When he returned he noticed everyone was leaving the dance floor. Puzzled, he sat down and watched quietly. Something he was wasn't used to doing. Abruptly the DJ piped up, "And now, girls and guys, listen up. We have a treat for you tonight. It's the one, the only and the sassy, The Lady!" he announced. As he finished talking, the music started up again, it was a Shakira song, Hips Don't Lie, except it wasn't Shakira who stepped out from the glittering curtains.

The Lady shimmied out with vibrant, waist-length, red, wavy hair. She wore a skimpy, revealing black and red dress with a silky red shawl and kinky knee-high stilettos. The only things out of place were her shiny purple lips. The song had been adjusted so that the male dancers chorused "The Lady, The Lady" instead of Shakira, Shakira.

_Impressive,_ thought Jack, bouncing his head to the music. The Lady caught his eye, winked and blew him a kiss. Ianto raised his eyebrows and shook his head. Jack smiled at this sense of jealousy. "Come on, Ianto, you don't think I'd lower myself to shagging a lap dancer and Gwen's murder suspect because she winked." He chuckled and turned his attention back to the Lady.

"You'd lower yourself to shagging anything that moves." Ianto muttered, trudging off to the bar with an air of hostility.

It was almost as if she had been waiting for Ianto to leave because no sooner had he left, The Lady had shimmied herself over to Jack. She danced all around him, her song hypnotising him. He couldn't take his eyes of her. As he looked deep into her eyes he noticed that they too were purple. _Colour coordinated_, he thought; _that would explain the lipstick._ But as she came even closer, he got the sense that she wasn't actually wearing any lipstick. He shrugged his petty thoughts off and continued to gaze at her body dancing around him. All too soon her song ended and she prowled back behind the sparkling curtains. Everyone applauded. The DJ said something else that Jack wasn't listening to then the music pumped up again and people started crowding the dance floor once more. Jack looked over at the bar to find Ianto had gone. _Fine, sulk off home,_ Jack thought to himself.

After a couple of songs, Jack saw the Lady come out from a back door from stage and went to sit at the bar. Jack automatically got up, feeling that hypnotised sensation again. He sat down next to her and she slowly turned her head towards him. He gave her one of his dazzling smiles and she returned the gesture. "You're a wonderful dancer." He commented, her smile grew and she definitely blushed.

"Thanks." She drank up the end of her drink and delicately slipped off her stool.

"Wait! Aren't you gonna stay a little longer?" he didn't even know why he had said it. It had just come out.

"Mmm, depends how good the company is." She gave another flirtatious grin. "That's a cute accent, by the way, American?"

"Uh huh." He answered, also drinking up and hopped off his stool. He couldn't understand why he was so eager, but she was so beautiful in his eyes.

"You want to go to my room then? They gave me a bed upstairs for now, while I'm performing here." She explained.

"Sure!" Jack followed like an excited puppy.


	4. Toxic

Once she had shut the door all the noise from downstairs ceased. "Sound-proof." She explained. She threw her silky shawl on a chair before strutting over to Jack. She grasped him and kissed his neck multiple times before pushing him backwards onto the bed behind him. Jack's neck began to tingle and sting, _this isn't right, _he thought uncomfortably. He put his hand up to his neck to feel little burns where she had kissed him.

She laughed quietly. Jack had met many people and species in his long life but for once he was actually unsure as to what this thing was. Any erotic thoughts very quickly left his head.

He bolted up and looked at her. She no longer looked beautiful, yet demented.

"What the Hell?" he shouted in shock.

"Shush!" she pushed him back down with inhumane force; her purple eyes had a red glint to them. Jack lay sprawled on the bed being pinned down by this alien whose demented look was turning deadly.

"What are you?" he breathed, "You're not human!" he reached for his Webley but she snatched it out of its holster before he'd even blinked. She threw it to the other side of the room with such strength it cracked the plaster as it hit the wall. Jack watched the plaster rain down the wall onto the floor, leaving a small hole in the wall where his gun had made contact.

"No I'm not. I'm not from this planet, but I have no idea how I actually got here." She put a hand over Jack's mouth so he couldn't interrupt. "I'm Dialingubola. I'm not even from this galaxy so I don't understand how I could have got here." She explained. Jack shook his head free from her grasp, Christ her species was a mouthful in so many different ways,

"The Rift! You must have come through the Rift! I can help you get back if you will just get off me. I mean I know I'm irresistible but come on." Jack laughed warily.

"Not now you know. You see, when I first arrived apart from being injured I was lost. I looked around and listened and learnt your language. I then started asking people where I was and they kept repeating Cardiff." She continued. She had sat herself heavy on Jack and continued her story. Jack meanwhile was concentrating on trying to breathe under a surprisingly increasing amount of weight. As well as resolving that his earlier thought of Dialingubola being a mouthful also made him think, they can talk a Hell of a lot too. "Your male breed seemed attracted to me and I learnt that you breed all year round." She paused for breath and Jack tried to not laugh, "Where I come from, we only mate one month of the year. We evolved so that we have a chemical on our lips to tempt the males. Unfortunately, here on Earth, you seem to be attracted anyway but the chemical on my lips seems toxic, fatal even. But it makes me feel powerful so I just can't help myself." She laughed a mirthless laugh. She bent low to Jack's face, "and so I think I'll do it again." She whispered in a deadly voice.

"So it _was_ you!" Jack spat angrily and she just laughed again. Why did the cute ones always have to be crazy? They were never criminal masterminds, just mass murdering lunatics. Does no one shag for fun anymore? There always has to be a bloody slaughtering motive. Jack struggled trying to move away from her restraint but it was no use, she was too strong. She held his face her nails nearly clawing his face like talons but she careful not to leave a mark and kissed him full on the lips. Then she let him go.

Jack slid off the bed, his head was spinning, his lips turned purple and the veins around his mouth started to protrude a dark greyish mauve. He could feel the mysterious chemical congealing in his throat, blocking his airways. The Lady just sat on the bed and watched. "By the time you're discovered, all those symptoms will have vanished and no trace of me or my deadly lips will be found on you." She smiled. Jack coughed and blood spilled from his mouth. He sat leaning against the bed. He could barely move anymore. Jack tried to wipe the blood from his mouth but his arm refused to work, none of limbs would work. His strength disintegrated with every struggling breath. His body burnt with the will to live though his mind knew he couldn't die. But it hurt so much. With every thump his heart gave the toxin pushed and poisoned his blood congealing it there in his veins. His arteries fought to push the blood through with weakening success.

Jack felt his body shutting down painfully slowly. He felt every spasm of pain that shot through different areas as oxygen and blood failed to reach. His gasps became so agonizing the effort itself threatened to overcome him. The war going on in Jack's body was nothing he had ever felt before. His system was fighting the poison more than he could ever remember it had fought in his very long life. Trying to repair itself with lessened success as the chemical overpowered.

The Lady watched not hiding her amused expression, and then she added, "You know, I've noticed you humans just can't resist my wink. It just hooks you. You go crazy. Ha, wink murder. Don't you just love it?" Jack collapsed on the floor. He was no longer in the mood for puns.

Gasping rattles dragged themselves out of his lungs as his body fought to stay alive. He lay there feeling his own blood filling his lungs, drowning him. As he lost consciousness, choking final breaths he smiled, thinking he would listen to Gwen more in the future. He closed his eyes and drew in a last rattled breath. Letting the darkness take him.


	5. Comatose

Gwen was the first in the SUV; she jumped in the driver's seat. Ianto wasn't far behind and jumped into the passenger's seat. Owen dived into the back and before he had even closed the door, Gwen was burning rubber and they hurtled down the road. They were all tense. Jack had not come in this morning and there was another dead man outside the nightclub he and Ianto had been to the night before.

There was silence in the SUV. No one spoke, some barely breathed. The tension in the atmosphere was building and choking all of them. Gwen breathed heavily, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the steering wheel. Ianto's eyes were watering but he wouldn't cry. He, unlike Gwen, held his breath. Thoughts buzzed around his head like bees, fast and noisy. The night before flashing different images at him, different feelings he remembered feeling and thoughts that he felt were not his own. The knot of jealousy that had occurred the night before had died down and instead had been replaced with anxiety. Owen just sat at the back with his head down. His face was even paler than usual. The team sat deep in their thoughts and anxiety. The minutes felt like hours as they crossed the city to the club.

When they pulled up the club was cordoned off. They all flashed ID before ducking under the tape. They entered the dark, empty club and followed the forensic team who were all rushing in the same direction like busy snowmen. There were photographers darted everywhere, bulbs flashing at everything. The chaos was not noticed by the Torchwood team who calmly followed the forensic scientists to a door a little way off from the bar. Slowly they climbed the steps that lay beyond the door. There was a door to the left of the landing that stood ajar. Another scientist pushed past them and opened the door wide. From where the team stood they could all see a pair of feet wearing boots identical to Jack's. Holding their breaths, they entered the room. When they reached the body they all knew straight away it was their Captain. His body was slumped at the bottom of the bed as if he had previously slid off it. Owen immediately bent down to examine him. Gwen was silently begging him to have revived while Ianto stood there white as a sheet.

While Owen checked Jack, Gwen looked around the room. It was quite small with not much furniture. It had a bed which was pushed up against the far wall, a table, in the corner which held an old lamp on it, a rickety chair next to the table and a bare bulb hung from the ceiling. Nothing looked odd or out of place until Gwen's eyes scanned the wall opposite the bed. There was a huge crack in the plaster. She went over to examine it and on the floor by the crack was Jack's Webley Mk VI. She stepped back shocked. The force of how it must have been thrown was stated in the plaster.

"He's alive." Owen abruptly stuttered. Gwen whipped her head round. Sure enough, Jack's chest was gently rising in shallow breaths. "The police pronounced him dead but um, well he's breathing now and he's got a pulse." Owen explained, Ianto breathed a sigh of relief. "We'd better get him back to the Hub." Owen said, getting to his feet. They all felt that release of tension after one of Jack's many deaths.

When they got back, Toshiko got up from her busy work station and went over to help. They shuffled and staggered, sharing Jack's dead weight between them. They got Jack in the medic room. Owen gave him a full examination. "He's in a coma." He announced, after half an hour of waiting. No one said a word. The team stood around Jack watching his chest rise and fall steadily each in their thoughts. Mainly what they do when their boss is in a coma.

"I'll go and make some coffee." Ianto finally broke the silence and everyone's train of thought.

Gwen didn't realise she was crying until Toshiko went over and gave her a hug. "You're not usually one for hugs, Tosh." Gwen sniffed.

"Neither am I." Owen cut in, also joining the hug. Tosh blushed and released herself from the hug. She went back to her work station while Owen started making Jack more comfortable in the bed.

"Wish he would fucking wake up and tell us who did this." Gwen said quietly, "Owen, when's he going to wake up?"

"I don't know. Not even the best doctors, like me, can say when a coma patient will regain consciousness. It could be anytime now, it, it…" he trailed off.

"Could, could be never?" Gwen dared not believe it. Owen nodded solemnly. Gwen tried to come to terms with this. She had led the team before when Jack had disappeared not knowing if he was coming back. She could do it again. Couldn't she?

"On the bright side you don't have to listen to his cocky comments." Owen tried a smile which didn't quite reach his lips.

"Owen, you're not helping." Toshiko sighed, coming into the room. As she shuffled around ushering the other two to the Boardroom Owen whispered in Gwen's ear, "Don't worry Gwen. We both know Jack is stubborn, annoying and a fighter. He'll be fine, Gwen, I'm sure." After the little sentiment Owen slapped Gwen's bum and told her to hurry up before Tosh's finger embeds itself permanently in his spine.

"Now what we need to know is; if this is alien poison like you suggested Gwen, we need an anti-toxin. Owen, would this help Jack?" Toshiko spoke from the end of the table where Jack would have stood to address the team.

"I'm not sure," Owen replied, "I can't find any trace of poison. If untraceable but still working in Jack's system, this could possibly be causing the coma. With normal men, it would simply kill, as we already know, but Jack isn't, well, normal." He explained.

"So you're saying it's the poison that's keeping him unconscious?" Gwen asked eagerly.

"Possibly, Gwen, we don't even know if it is even poison." Owen insisted.

"Possibly is good enough for me." Gwen said determinedly. She grabbed her jacket and headed for the cog door.

Ianto looked up from his work as Gwen rushed past. He got up and followed. She had jumped in the SUV and had started the engine by the time Ianto emerged from the tourist office which was Torchwood's cover. He ran at the SUV and hurtled himself into the passenger's seat as Gwen floored the accelerator. She braked to a stop in surprise. Ianto looked at her and saw the tears slowly run down her face. Tears pricked his own eyes. For a few seconds they stared at each other, watching the other one's tears fall. Simultaneously, they hugged each other so tightly Gwen choked on her tears. She buried her head in Ianto's shoulder, her make-up staining his crisp suit. But as he held on to her, she had the feeling he didn't care.

After a few minutes, they released themselves from the hug. Ianto sat back in his seat and composed himself. Gwen sat forward and sniffed very loudly. She gripped the steering wheel tightly. As her foot hit the accelerator the wheels had a slight back spin. The SUV raced forward, heading for the other side of Cardiff. The side of the city where Jack was found earlier that day.


	6. The Hunt

The SUV screeched to a halt outside the nightclub. Gwen got out straight away but Ianto hesitated. Guilt welled up inside him. His eyes stung with the threat of tears again. The night before swam into his vision and the knot of jealousy that came from nowhere returned. Jack's beautiful face was close to his then that lap dancer shimmied into his vision and the knot exploded as she danced around Jack. He remembered his jealousy turning to anger, then storming out of the nightclub. He remembered the winded and groggy feeling he felt after he left the club. The sensation was foreign and unpleasant. Something had not been right but he couldn't bring himself to go back in. The thought had made him dizzy almost ill. Maybe this lap dancer used hypnosis. Not just to hook a victim but to repel loved ones. The horror struck Ianto as his thoughts settled him with this theory.

Ianto jumped out of the car to share his theory with Gwen who he was sure would agree. "I don't know Ianto. We can't even be sure the lap dancer is the prime suspect. Owen certainly doubts it." Gwen said, unsurely.

"Yes, but you believe me don't you? I mean, you suspected her all along, this would make sense right?" Ianto persisted. Gwen looked at him, sympathy subtly etching her face. She saw the desperate face of someone who had lost something and was struggling to find a hint as to how to find it. She smiled and nodded her head slightly. Ianto's face looked like a naïve boy seeking reassurance._ He's lost without Jack,_ Gwen thought to herself sadly. But she felt lost without Jack too. The lack of his strong presence was affecting them all.

Meanwhile, at the Hub, Owen did his regular check-up on Jack when he noticed something. A small trickle of blood sat at the corner of Jack's mouth. Slowly the drop slipped down the side of his face and settled into his collar. With a frown Owen inspected Jack's mouth carefully. As he did so, another drop oozed and started to fall from Jack's closed mouth. Owen quickly rushed and grabbed a sampling phial and collected the drop of blood. He then waited with anticipation for another drop which, 30 seconds later, emerged. He collected that one too before opening Jack's mouth to check where the damage was that was causing the bleeding. There were no cuts or any obvious signs of damage to Jack's mouth and the bleeding seemed to have ceased. Owen waited a couple more minutes but when there was no more blood he went to his testing equipment to see if there were any clues in the blood samples as to why Jack seemed so ill yet perfectly healthy.

At the club, Gwen and Ianto had composed themselves to a professional state. They walked up to the closed off club together. Gwen gently squeezed Ianto's hand then detached herself very quickly. Not sure as to what had made her do it. She felt that Jack's absence had pulled her and Ianto together. Both loved Jack, both couldn't cope without him. Both needed each other for reassurance.

Ianto felt the warmth which quickly dissipated as he felt Gwen retract her hand. He confused himself when he realised he longed for her to hold it again. Guiltily he shoved the taboo emotion away and concentrated on his pain for Jack. The emotion he should be feeling. He thought. But Ianto didn't know anymore. He loved Jack, Gwen loved Jack. That was all. He didn't have the same feelings for Gwen. Love triangles didn't work that way. But then again, Ianto thought sadly, it wasn't a triangle anymore, and that only left two players looking for the love they had lost.

The club was dark and quiet. The same foreboding atmosphere from when they had found Jack. They moved upstairs to have a closer look at the room they had found Jack in.

The silence was broken by Gwen's phone ringing. She answered Owen's call immediately in case it was about Jack, "Owen?"

"Gwen, listen, Jack's mouth started bleeding a little earlier, well, it was more like blood coming out of his mouth but-"

"Is he alright?" Gwen cut in, at this Ianto shot to the phone.

"He's fine now, yes, but shut up a moment and listen carefully," Owen said with his usual manners (or lack of them). "I did tests on the blood and I've found foreign bodies or bacteria in it. Alien bodies, this means the murderer is now, almost definitely alien, or has access to alien technology." Owen explained, "I think these alien bodies are what kill the men and are what are keeping Jack unconscious. We need an anti-toxin and I think I might be able to make it. But it could take time." Owen finished. Gwen didn't know what to say.

"Uh, excellent, um, Owen" she tried.

"I know." Owen replied. Then it dawned on Gwen,

"But how much time? I don't think we have a lot of time Owen. Men are dying and Jack's useless and can't tell us who did it and if they're alien, this could get more frequent, a lot more frequent." Gwen argued.

"I know, but it's like, say for example, when you have snake toxins. You identify the poisonous bodies and use them to create an antidote. This can take years for even specialists to find and I'm talking an Earth life form too. What I've got to do is out of my specialist knowledge and isn't even from Earth, which means I have to make it safe to administer to Jack or I could potentially make him even more ill. But I think I'm closing in on the perpetrator, well Tosh is anyway, and I'm passing on the message. Now I need Ianto's help." Owen explained extensively. Ianto who had been trying to hear the whole conversation snatched the phone from Gwen's ear.

"I'm listening." He said quickly.

"Ianto, are you sure the lap dancer was the last person Jack was with?" Owen asked,

"She was the last person I saw him with before I left, definitely." He answered.

"Ok. And did you feel almost repelled from her?" Owen interrogated again,

"That's exactly how I felt, how did you know?" Ianto asked stunned.

"No time to explain, Tosh will ring you in a few minutes with some info you're going to need." With that Gwen's phone clicked off.

Gwen looked at Ianto and smiled broadly for what felt like the first time in a long time. "Let's hunt down this alien bitch slut." She murmured. Ianto smiled back and suddenly they were holding hands again. But this time they didn't let go. They raced back to the SUV hand in hand. This time Ianto sat in the driver's seat and started the engine. But almost simultaneously they both realised they had no idea where to look for The Lady.

Gwen dialled Tosh who answered with a clicking sound in the background. Typing for once, thought Gwen. "Tosh, err, little help?"

"With The Lady? I wondered if you were going to call before I did." Tosh replied with a slight hint of a laugh. "Let me guess, did it dawn on you after you drove half way down the road?" Tosh asked.

"No!" Gwen shot back quickly, "it was after Ianto started the car." She said a little quieter. Tosh sighed on the other end of the phone.

"Well," she continued to tap on her keyboard, "You never expect miracles when you send a tea boy and a police officer." The harshness of the phrase was dampened by the obvious smile in Tosh's voice. Gwen had no time to neither realise nor react to the sarcastic comment before Tosh had changed the subject to more pressing matters. "Wow, she's closer to home than we thought. If my calculations are correct, she's in the Millennium centre somewhere. That's as close as I can pin point it. Don't ask me how I did it-"

"As if I would understand anyway." Gwen cut in.

"Well you'd better head back this way and start your hunt." Tosh let Gwen's comment slide modestly.

"Her alien, bitch, slut hunt actually Tosh." Ianto added, as the phone was on loudspeaker. Gwen gave him her most evil evils.

"Yes, well, we'll see you later Tosh." Gwen clicked the phone off. "Never again am I putting a call on loudspeaker when you're around." Gwen said huffily and folded her arms, but she smiled as she said it. Ianto started the engine of the SUV again and headed back towards the Millennium Centre.

**I would like to thank lilmisspoppets who gave me Tosh's comeback when I was stuck for ages trying to find one that Tosh would say.**

**FlowerPetalsToTheWind**


	7. What The Hell?

Gwen and Ianto stood in the Millennium Centre. They had not spotted the Lady and Tosh could get no further readings, she seemed to have simply vanished. Or evolved more human-like to avoid detection. Either way, Gwen and Ianto decided to just go back to the Hub to see how Jack's antidote was coming along and help Tosh with detecting the Lady.

They went through the Reception and headed down to the Hub. There on the main level, they were greeted by silence. There was no Tosh tapping fast on a keyboard. There was no Owen humming an annoying, tuneless song that had got stuck in his head. There was nothing. Gwen stepped carefully down to the medical bay and to her relief found both Owen and Tosh watching Jack intensely. "Owen? Tosh? Is everything ok?" Gwen asked attentively. Toshiko turned around and put a finger to her lips to signal for Gwen to be quiet. She ushered Gwen and Ianto into the small area around Jack. Tosh then whispered so that Gwen and Ianto could just about hear, "Owen's about to try an antidote," they all watched as Owen prepared something in a phial, "but Owen says we have to be quiet." Gwen and Ianto nodded their heads.

The team watched patiently as their Captain remained motionless while Owen was still fiddling with instruments none of the others could name. Suddenly there was a loud clattering in the main hub area. Ianto went to investigate the noise. Owen looked like he'd not noticed as he continued concentrating. Gwen and Toshiko strained their ears to hear Ianto and what had happened. "Maybe it was that bloody Pterodactyl." Gwen whispered.

"Pteranodon." Tosh corrected. Moments later they heard Ianto say,

"What the Hell?" before a loud crash shattered the previous silence. Gwen and Tosh brought out their guns, looked at Owen who had finally taken his eyes off Jack and nodded at them with his eyebrows arched as if to say,

"Go check it out then!" Gwen and Tosh ran to the main level of the Hub, where the commotion had just been. They found Ianto crumpled, face down and unconscious by the water tower. Both women raised their guns and looked around. Gwen saw a flash of red hair before a fist smashed into her face. The force sent her skidding across the floor with a definitely broken nose. She heard gun fire, a scream, more gunshots then silence. She could barely see as her eyes were watering from the pain throbbing in her nose which felt as large as Mount Everest. Gwen blinked madly to clear her vision. To her relief, when she could finally see, she saw Tosh pointing her gun at a mass of red hair curled up on the floor. Gwen picked herself up and steadied her gun and also trained it on the mass of hair.

After hearing the gun shots, Owen too had come to see what was going on. He stopped for just a second taking in the scene in front of him. He saw Ianto unconscious on the floor, Gwen with blood pouring from an extremely broken nose, training her gun, along with an unscathed Tosh on a pile of red hair.

"What the Hell is that? Cousin Itt off the the Addam's Family or something?" he asked perplexed.

"That, Owen, is the Lady." Tosh said shakily. The mound of hair stirred. Stained with blood, the Lady stood up. Her designer top drenched in blood from where Tosh had managed to shoot her in the shoulder. Owen's eyes widened. He couldn't take them off of her. Even wounded and blood tattered, she looked the most beautiful thing in the world to Owen. He lowered his gun, suddenly mesmerised by her. He took a step towards her. Gwen looked sideways at him. He took another step towards the Lady.

"Owen? What are you doing?" she hissed.

"She's hurt. I'm a doctor." He said in a soft voice, very unlike his own.

"She's a murderous alien!" Gwen whispered angrily.

"She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Owen said dreamily.

"If this wasn't Owen, I think this would be proving your hypnosis theory, Tosh." Gwen said out of the corner of her mouth to Toshiko. Tosh whispered back,

"I would agree, but this isn't Owen." Tosh replied quietly. She looked sideways at Gwen who was watching the Lady carefully. It was true, Owen wasn't acting like Owen, he seemed too caring, quiet and in love. The alien took a step towards Owen in an almost shimmy. Tosh clicked the safety trigger off her gun. The Lady looked at her. At that moment, Owen jumped between Tosh and the alien, staring at the computer genius with eyes that kept going out of focus. Toshiko's eyes welled up with tears. From behind him, the Lady smiled and put her arms around Owen's waist. She smirked at Tosh.

"You see? I can read you're mind because you are weak. You love him so much, and he needs it. He needs to be loved, that's why he is so much easier to control than that American. He loves me. He'll risk his life for me." The Lady taunted. Tears slipped from Tosh's eyes. The Lady looked at Gwen who felt hatred as soon as their eyes met, "And you! You care too much about everyone. You have so much heart, it disgusts me. But you're also weak, also easy to read. That's why you're angry." Gwen then felt hatred towards Owen. She didn't know why, but she hated him with all her being. Repulsed by him. Her finger twitched on the trigger that was pointing at Owen. But she forced herself to stay calm and not fire. Even when she felt she would burst with hatred.

The Lady's smile broadened. She kissed Owen's neck. Slowly a small burn appeared where her lips had just been but Owen didn't seem to notice. Without warning, there were multiple gunshots. The Lady shook then fell to the floor dead. Gwen's anger immediately subsided. Tosh's tears dried up and she smiled. And Owen said, "What the Hell?"

Tosh and Gwen looked past Owen's shoulder, with that Owen turned around. All three of them were looking at Ianto and Jack holding freshly fired guns.

**I do not own any rights to Torchwood or the Addam's Family.**

**FlowerPetalsToTheWind**


	8. Antidotes and Kisses

Gwen walked slowly to Jack and hugged him tightly. She released him and looked at Ianto who was sporting a black eye and had a nasty cut on his forehead which was swelling with bruising. Jack looked too and kissed his forehead. Owen, who had his arm around a stiff Tosh, was looking very confused, "But I didn't administer the anti-toxin." He said.

"You made an anti-toxin? That was sweet." Jack answered.

"Well, I tried to make one. You've been out for the count. We were starting, well they were starting," he waved towards Tosh, Ianto and Gwen, "were starting to get worried." Owen explained.

"Aw, did you miss me then?" Jack squeezed Ianto.

"I was just happy that the cocky sarcasm had stopped for a while." Owen said. Jack raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything, but Gwen did,

"You can talk, Owen, you're practically the King of Sarcasm." But she smiled after she said it.

Seeing the two little couples made Gwen feel very awkward, being the odd one out. She was looking at Tosh who was gradually cuddling into Owen's arm. Then at Ianto who was being tenderly examined by Jack as his cut was still bleeding a lot. At that moment she longed for Rhys. So at night after days like this, she could cuddle on the sofa with him and tell him all about her day and he would be sympathetic and hug her even tighter. Especially as they seemed to be arguing such a lot nowadays. She sighed deeply.

Gwen pulled herself from her thoughts and looked up again. The romantic atmosphere had cleared and Owen had turned professional and was supporting Ianto, with Jack to the Medical Bay as Ianto was going extremely pale very quickly.

Gwen looked at the corpse of the seductive alien. Jack came back from the medical Bay and lifted the body off the floor. He took it to the morgue. Gwen followed. They looked at the blood tattered body almost matching the colour of its hair. "She wasn't evil, was she." Gwen said quietly. "She was just inferior on her planet. She just wanted to feel powerful. Murdering humans was just insecurity about her status." Gwen said even quieter almost to herself but Jack was listening and nodded solemnly.

"Basically it was self-counselling. A dangerous alien who is feeling insecure or any other deadly mood can be twice as lethal as any other alien. Human's can be the same." Jack agreed. Gwen smiled at Jack,

"So she was a like futuristic Suffragette."

"Something like that." Jack smiled back, genuinely liking Gwen's example. She kissed him on the cheek and left the mortuary.

He watched her back as she retreated. He bit his tongue to stop himself from calling after her. He still felt guilty about Ianto. And he knew he couldn't keep playing one off against the other. Even so she had such a cute arse.

"Gwen!" he called just as she reached the door. She turned slowly with a smile on her face. Now he really couldn't stop himself, bum and then that dazzling smile? He jogged after her and she met him in the middle. They stared into each others eyes for a moment, "I missed you." Gwen whispered. Jack pulled her in close. He breathed in her scent, but it was tainted by another familiar smell.

"Why do you smell like Ianto's aftershave?" he questioned.

"I do?" she asked panicky. Jack pulled back a little to look at her face, one eyebrow arched perfectly. "I don't know, he was just, and I was just…" she stuttered, then sighed knowing he wasn't going to believe any excuses she tried, "We were both upset ok? And we both missed you. We just felt a little overwhelmed so we let it out a bit."

Jack's jaw dropped slightly. Gwen and Ianto? Now that's not something even the Doctor could have predicted. He chuckled to himself. Gwen punched him on the arm playfully thinking he was laughing at her. He scooped her up and carried her out the morgue with his mouth locked on hers in a way he can never experience with anyone else.


	9. Coffee Again

**Sorry the ending is a bit short, but nothing else could have finished it without ruining its effect. (I think). Review and tell me if you think otherwise.**

**Thank you. FlowerPetalsToTheWind (does not own Torchwood)**

The Torchwood team sat in the Boardroom, drinking coffee. The Rift had been, thankfully, quiet. Everyone had scarcely just finished laughing at Ianto who they decided, looked like a wounded soldier with the large bandage around his head. A wounded soldier wearing a smart suit and cleaning up after everyone. Jack had been teasing him by trying to pull him onto his lap every time he past him.

The team was a lot less sombre since Jack had woken up. Everything just seemed brighter and funny. Even Janet, the weevil, seemed happier. If weevils could show that much emotion.

It had made Gwen conclude that Jack really was the life and soul of Torchwood.

After finding nothing else to tidy, clean, catalogue, or otherwise organise, Ianto finally gave up and let Jack successfully tug him onto his lap. They sat cuddled for a while. Ianto's grin was almost reaching his ears as he was so grateful to have the Captain back. Jack kept nuzzling his back making him squirm slightly. Everyone laughed as Ianto kept jumping a little.

Tosh and Owen sat next to each other with their fingers entwined under the table. And Gwen sat optimistic knowing everything was going to be great again, especially as Rhys had made her an I'm-sorry-for-arguing dinner that she actually got home to on time for.

After all the activity, the team sat there quietly, deep in their thoughts. Each had a slight smile on their lips. Gwen remembered the last time they had all been in the boardroom, just thinking. It had felt almost a life time ago and had had a very different atmosphere. She was happy everything was back to normal. Well as normal as things could get at Torchwood. And a happy Jack was easily filling his empty space with ease, as if he hadn't been away.

As Gwen thought this, Tosh pulled her PDA out of her pocket,

"Weevil sighting. Spotted coming out of a sewer near the Cardiff Bay Rail 10 minutes ago. It's now heading west." She concluded. Jack grinned,

"Coffee break over guys, there's work to do." Ianto slipped off his lap and left the room. He returned moments later with Jack's great coat.

Just another day at Torchwood Cardiff.


End file.
